Yu-Gi-Oh! GX - Episode 177
"Combo of Terror! "Zero and Infinity"" is the one hundred and seventy-seventh episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime. It first aired Japan on March 5, 2008. Summary Despite the defeat of Nightshroud, the eclipse has not lifted. Jaden and Jesse hear a growling in the distance, and Jaden goes to investigate, while Jesse, still exhausted from the Duel, watches over Yusuke Fujiwara. Jaden hurries to Duel Academy's computer core, and sees that no one in Duel Academy or anywhere else has been restored. A voice then tells him that they need to settle this once and for all. He heads back outside, but Jesse and Fujiwara are gone, leaving him alone with Pharaoh and the spirit of Professor Banner. The voice speaks to him again, telling him the final confrontation is at hand. He states that he is Nightshroud and Jaden has only defeated a part of him by beating Fujiwara (keep in mind that in the Japanese version of previous seasons, Nightshroud's name was "Darkness"). Nightshroud reveals his true form - a cloaked, skeletal figure, resembling The Grim Reaper. Banner states he can sense the spirits of many people within the sphere of Darkness behind Nightshroud. Jaden asks if Nightshroud intends to take over the world, and Nightshroud states he has no such desire and only follows the logic and truth of the world. Jaden asks if he thinks it's natural for everyone to disappear from existence. Nightshroud confirms this, and states that the World of Darkness represents true peace for many. Nightshroud allows Jaden a look into his world, much as he did for Atticus. Chazz, Syrus and Alexis are shown accepting their failures and Nightshroud states that they have thrown everything away - there is neither hope nor despair in the World of Darkness. Their consciousnesses will fade into one another, and everyone will have "eternal life". Nightshroud reveals the origins of the universe: in the beginning there was but a single card. The planets and stars were created, and the Earth gave rise to humans, who eventually discovered Duel Monsters, which Nightshroud calls "the origin of the world". Duel Monsters served as a test or a "mirror" of the human heart. Nightshroud compares the human world to the front of a card, with the World of Darkness compared to the back of it. If light remained in the hearts of humans, then peace could be retained on the "front" of the card. However, the hearts of many Duelists became corrupted with darkness, and that darkness seeped into Nightshroud's world. In other words, that was what awakened him to begin with. He states it is natural for his world to replace the human world. He describes himself as a "savior". He also confirms the theory that Sartorius had previously come up with - the events of the previous three years, centered on the island (and the dimensions), served as the final catalyst needed. It is from the darkness of humans that Nightshroud's power derives from, and each human that misuses Duel Monsters causes his power to grow. Jaden states he acquired his powers of darkness to combat ones like Nightshroud. Nightshroud describes Jaden as a "foreign object", one who has both a human soul and a Duel Monster soul within him. He states that Jaden is not suitable to be absorbed into his world and thus should be eliminated. Jaden tells Nightshroud that his world will never replace the human world, and thus Nightshroud declares he'll defeat Jaden using Duel Monsters - the "origin of the world". Jaden activates his Duel Disk, while five wings sprout of Nightshroud's back - each with a Monster Card Zone and a Spell & Trap Card Zone. Nightshroud plays the "Darkness" Field Spell Card, which lets him Set five cards from his hand and Deck to his Spell & Trap Card Zones. Jaden attacks, and Nightshroud activates "Zero", which also activates "Infinity". With these in play, he may activate any card that sits in the zones between the two. He states that between Zero and Infinity, there is only Darkness. He activates "Darkness 1", destroying Jaden's "Elemental Hero Sparkman". Jaden quickly uses "Relationship" to Summon an "Elemental Hero" with equal ATK to the destroyed "Sparkman", and choose "Elemental Hero Necroshade" to defend himself. At the end of each turn, Nightshroud randomly rearranges his Spell and Trap Cards and Sets them face-down again. Nightshroud activates the effect of his "Darkness Eye" to Summon "Darkness Destroyer" without a Tribute. Jaden believes that he'll be safe due to Nightshroud's cards being randomly re-Set, but to his and Professor Banner's horror Nightshroud not only successfully activates his Trap Cards, but they are in the worst position possible; all three Traps are between "Zero" and "Infinity". The stacked boosts of "Darkness 2" increases the ATK of "Darkness Destroyer" to a staggering 5300; and it also has they ability to attack twice and inflict piercing damage. Jaden negates the first attack with "Hero Barrier", but the remaining attack of "Darkness Destroyer" destroys "Necroshade" and takes Jaden down to 500 Life Points with one shot. Nightshroud tells Jaden to give up, as there is no one left to believe in his ability to fight. The spirit of Yubel appears and reminds Jaden that he's not alone - she is always with him. With the effect of "Necroshade" in the Graveyard, Jaden Summons "Elemental Hero Neos" without a sacrifice. "Darkness Eye" glows again, and Yubel tells Jaden to act now. He does, and plays "Effect Shut" to destroy "Darkness Eye" since it activated its effect. Yubel explains that the effect of "Darkness Eye" allowed Nightshroud to confirm his Set cards and accuses him of using a cheap strategy for someone claiing to be a god. Jaden attacks, and Nightshroud cannot check his Set Spell and Trap Cards, so he activates a random one - which ends up being "Darkness 1", which is useless without activating "Zero" and "Infinity" first, and thus "Darkness Destroyer" is destroyed and Nightshroud reduced to 3800 Life Points. Nightshroud states that if Yubel is giving Jaden support, he'll have to sever that connection. He uses the effect of "Darkness Outsider" to Special Summon "Yubel" to his own field. Nightshroud attacks with "Yubel", but Jaden activates "Astral Shift", allowing him to turn the attack into a direct attack, therefore taking none of the Battle Damage that Yubel's effect would have transferred to him, and also allowing him to draw a card that he is shocked to see. Nightshroud proceeds to firm up his defenses by mimicking "Neos" with his "Darkness Slime". Jaden plays "Super Polymerization", discarding "Winged Kuriboh" to fuse "Neos" with "Yubel" to Fusion Summon "Neos Wiseman". He uses its powerful effect to turn the Duel around, destroying "Darkness Slime" and restoring his Life Points by the DEF of "Darkness Slime" to 3000, while taking Nightshroud's down to 1800 by inflicting the ATK of "Darkness Slime" to him. Featured Duel: Jaden Yuki vs. Nightshroud Turn 1: Nightshroud Nightshroud draws "Darkness". He then Normal Summons "Darkness Eye" (0/1000) in Attack Position. Nightshroud then activates "Darkness", which lets him randomly Set "Zero", "Infinity", "Darkness 1", "Darkness 2" and "Darkness 3" from his hand and Deck to his Spell & Trap Card Zone. He Sets all five from his Deck. "Darkness" forbids Nightshroud from looking at his set cards, but the first effect of "Darkness Eye" allows Nightshroud to bypass this effect. Also during each End Phase, all face-up Trap Cards on Nightshroud's side of the field will be reset and if that is done, the set Traps will be randomly rearranged. Turn 2: Jaden Jaden draws "Elemental Hero Sparkman" and subsequently Normal Summons it (1600/1400) in Attack Position. "Sparkman" attacks "Darkness Eye", but Nightshroud activates his face-down "Zero", which lets him activate his face-down "Infinity", which lets him activate all his face-down cards that are in the zone(s) between the two: "Darkness 1". The effect of "Darkness 1" activates, destroying "Sparkman". Jaden then activates "Relationship" to Special Summon "Elemental Hero Necroshade" (1600/1800) in Defense Position (as the ATK of "Necroshade" is equal to the ATK of "Sparkman"). Jaden Sets a card. On Jaden's End Phase, Nightshroud's Traps are reset and randomly rearranged due to the effect of "Darkness". Turn 3: Nightshroud Nightshroud draws "Darkness Destroyer". During Nightshroud's Standby Phase, he activates the second effect of "Darkness Eye" to allow himself to Normal Summon "Darkness Destroyer" (2300/2100) in Attack Position without Tributing. He then activates his face-down "Zero", which lets him activate his face-down "Infinity", which lets him activate the three face-down cards in between the two - "Darkness 2", "Darkness 1" and "Darkness 3". Only the effect of "Darkness 2" activates, so the ATK of "Darkness Destroyer" increases by 1000 ("Darkness Destroyer": 2300 → 3300/2100) and then it gains 1000 ATK for every other face-up "Darkness" card ("Darkness Destroyer": 3300 →4300 → 5300/2100). "Darkness Destroyer" then attacks "Necroshade", but Jaden activates his face-down "Hero Barrier" to negate the attack. "Darkness Destroyer" then attacks and destroys "Necroshade" (as it can attack twice during each Battle Phase). "Darkness Destroyer" then inflicts piercing damage to Jaden (Jaden 4000 → 500). On Nightshroud's End Phase, the effect of "Darkness 2" expires ("Darkness Destroyer": 5300 → 2300/2100) and Nightshroud's Traps are reset and randomly rearranged due to the effect of "Darkness". Turn 4: Jaden Jaden draws "Elemental Hero Neos". He then uses the effect of "Necroshade" from his Graveyard in order to Normal Summon "Elemental Hero Neos" (2500/2000) in Attack Position without Tributing. Nightshroud activates the effect of "Darkness Eye" to look at his set cards, but Jaden activates "Effect Shut" to negate the activation of the effect of "Darkness Eye" and destroy it. "Neos" attacks "Darkness Destroyer", but Nightshroud activates a random face-down Trap - it ends up being "Darkness 1", but it has no effect unless it is activated via "Infinity" when it is between it and "Zero". "Neos" then destroys "Darkness Destroyer" (Nightshroud 4000 → 3800). Jaden sets a card. On Jaden's End Phase, Nightshroud's Traps are reset and randomly rearranged due to the effect of "Darkness". Turn 5: Nightshroud Nightshroud draws "Darkness Seed". He then Normal Summons "Darkness Outsider" (0/0) in Attack Position. Nightshroud then activates the effect of "Darkness Outsider" to discard "Darkness Seed" and declare a Monster Card Name. If that card is in Jaden's Deck, Nightshroud can Special Summon it under his control. Nightshroud declares "Yubel", so the latter monster is Special Summoned from Jaden's Deck to Nightshroud's side of the field (0/0) in Attack Position. Nightshroud then activates the first effect of "Darkness Seed", which will allow Nightshroud to Special Summon "Darkness Seed" from his Graveyard during his second Standby Phase after the effect's activation. "Yubel" attacks "Neos" (Nightshroud plans to use the second effect of "Yubel" to make Jaden take the Battle Damage that he would takeIn the TCG/''OCG'', the effect of "Yubel" only does so when the opponent declares the attack and it inflicts Effect Damage.), but Jaden activates his face-down "Astral Shift" to change the attack to a direct attack and draw a card ("Super Polymerization"). Nightshroud then Special Summons "Darkness Slime" from his hand (0/0) in Defense Position as the total ATK of all of Nightshroud's face-up monsters equal 0. Nightshroud then activates the second effect of "Darkness Slime" to target "Neos" and make the ATK of "Darkness Slime" the same as the DEF of "Neos" as well as make the DEF of "Darkness Slime" the same as the ATK of "Neos" ("Darkness Slime": 0 → 2000/0 → 2500). On Nightshroud's End Phase, he Tributes "Darkness Outsider" to keep "Yubel" in play. Turn 6: Jaden Jaden draws. He then activates "Super Polymerization" to discard "Winged Kuriboh" and fuse "Neos" with "Yubel" in order to Fusion Summon "Neos Wiseman" (3000/3000) in Attack Position. In the TCG/''OCG'', "Neos Wiseman" is an Effect Monster that can only be Special Summoned by Tributing "Elemental Hero Neos" and "Yubel", not a Fusion of the two. "Neos Wiseman" attacks and destroys "Darkness Slime". The second effect of "Neos Wiseman" then activates, inflicting damage to Nightshroud equal to the ATK of "Darkness Slime" and increasing Jaden's Life Points by the DEF of "Darkness Slime" (Jaden 500 → 3000, Nightshroud 3800 → 1800). Duel continues in the next episode. Mistakes * When Jaden Summons "Elemental Hero Necroshade", its DEF is shown as 1000 instead of 1800. * When Nightshroud takes damage from the effect of "Neos Wiseman", his Life Points become 1800. In the next episode, they are shown as 1300 instead. As the effect of "Darkness Slime" and how it decides its ATK and DEF are not clearly explained, which of these is the error is not clear. Featured cards The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here. Notes